Friday, June 26, 2015

Eros
hates Valentine’s Day. When his loathing for the lover’s holiday angers Zeus,
he goes to his favorite bar to cool down. Instead he ends the night even more
confused because the bar’s enchanting and beautiful owner Iris, who turns out
to be a goddess herself, berates him over his horrible treatment of women. He
doesn’t know his mother Aphrodite and the goddess Hera plan to use Iris to
teach him what love is really all about.

Excerpt:

Iris left
her office and looked at Eros. If he had something to say, she was going to
make him say it. She wasn’t sure what his mother had said, but she felt certain
it had pushed him in the direction she and Hera wanted him to go.

“Anything
else?” She walked over and sat down.

Eros looked
up. “Well, I was hoping you would let me prove to you I’m not such a bad guy.”

She didn’t
even try to stop herself from laughing at him. “That is
the dumbest, most unoriginal way of asking me out.”

“How do you
know I’m asking you out?”

“What else
could you be doing?”

“I mean I
literally just want to prove to you I’m not a bad guy. Spend some time with me.
Let me show you what other women see.”

Iris
thought quickly. Her problem with him had always been that she didn’t see what
other women saw. When she looked at Eros, she saw past the looks and charm. She
saw his potential. He was so good at making others happy because he liked doing
it. She also saw how lonely he truly was. She knew she wasn’t fooling herself
on that point.

She finally
asked, “What do you have in mind?”

He paused,
and she wondered if he’d expected her to flat out say no.

“Well,
maybe a walk on the beach? Nothing formal like dinner. Just spend some time
together.”

“All right.
When?”

“Tonight?”

“Okay. Come
and get me at midnight.” She got up and walked back to her office. Walk on
the beach, huh? And perhaps a bit of frolicking in the waves? He was going
to have to do better than this.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

The Highwaymen are back! The latest in my Tales of the Highwaymen series is here. This story features our heroes from book 3 (All Mine) meeting a handsome laird who is determined to convince them that fate has brought the three of them together. (Some people have all the luck!) If you want to learn more about Melara, the other books, and the characters, see my series page here.

Two handsome masked men have haunted Benjamin’s dreams for
months. When he attends the king’s wedding and meets Theodore and Nicholas,
he’s sure his dreams are about to come true. Despite their attraction to him,
the two highwaymen prove reluctant to upend their lives simply to take a chance
on the mysterious dreams Benjamin has been having. But a mission from the king
gives Benjamin a chance to convince them, and he’s going to do all in his power
to make both these men his.

Benjamin led his
horse around to the barn and eyed the house. A light was on upstairs, and he
could see another one in the back on the first floor. He hadn’t rushed,
assuming Theodore and Nicholas might need some time alone, not only to ease
Theodore’s need but also to talk. Four other horses were in the stable, two
looking fresher than the others, so he figured they had to both be home. He
unbuckled his bags and pulled them off his horse, who looked much relieved. He
began to brush her as she nibbled on a bit of hay and then stepped forward for
some water. He held her and eased the saddle off before finishing up patting
her down.

The idea of
talking to Theodore and Nicholas at the same time had him so excited his nerves
were absolutely shot. Theodore had been reluctant, yet his kiss had shown
promise. Nicholas’s gaze had held something Benjamin couldn’t define, and that
gave him even more hope. He didn’t want to be used for their pleasure and then
forgotten. He wanted more than the carnal gratification he’d felt in his
dreams. He wanted that sense of completion he often felt when he looked into
their eyes. Theodore’s eyes were exactly like those of the blond in his dreams.
Meeting Nicholas would be the next test. He sighed, not sure what he’d do if he
turned out to be wrong.

“You must be
Benjamin,” a voice said.

Benjamin turned,
and he had to bite his lip to hold in his gasp. Nicholas stood only a few feet
away, and even in the torchlight his eyes shone at Benjamin, just as they had
in his dreams.

“Yes, and you must
be Nicholas.”

Nicholas nodded.
“I’m surprised I was able to sneak up on you. I thought men from the lowlands
were excellent trackers.” A slight smile curved Nicholas’s lips.

Was the man
flirting? Benjamin tried to put on his best smile. “I’m distracted. And you
seem like you’d be light on your feet. Graceful. We can put it down to my
daydreaming and your skill equally.”

The smile
brightened, if only a bit. “I don’t have any skills.”

“You’re a
highwayman.”

“And you know just
as well as the entire kingdom does that it’s not what it seems.”

“Indeed. It’s
something I admire and wish to hear more about. The world needs more good men
willing to help others.”

Benjamin let his
breath out shakily, the smaller man’s aggression surprising him deliciously. It
made him ache to press the man closer. “Name it. I shall stand.” He grinned.
“And deliver.”

Nicholas’s hands
moved up and down Benjamin’s chest at a lazy pace, his fingers only
occasionally touching skin through the openings at the laces. “I believe magic
is mostly a positive force, but I’m wary about following Maeva’s urgings.”

“Oh yes. Very
strange things indeed. Like handsome lairds dreaming of men they’ve never met.”

“I started doing
that before I came north.”

“Then make amends
and kiss me. You had Theodore so hard I had to fuck him right there in the
palace.” One finger worked into the laces and caressed Benjamin’s skin. “I was
aching with jealousy even as the vision of you two kissing aroused me.”

“There’ll be no
need for jealousy. I’ll give myself to both of you equally.”

Nicholas’s face
clouded a moment, his hands lowering.

Benjamin touched
his cheek. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you prefer,
I’ll apologize for trying to seduce your love.”

“That’s not the
problem. I’m amazed at how much I want your kiss.”

Benjamin took hold
of the back of Nicholas’s head and pulled him into a deep kiss. He pushed his
tongue into Nicholas’s mouth right away and explored, pleased to find that he
tasted just as sweet as Theodore had. In fact, this kiss was even better.
Nicholas was more than willing, pressing close and tangling his hands in
Benjamin’s hair. His soft sighs and moans made Benjamin long to take more from
him, to possess him completely then and there.

And if you're new to the series, here's a little peek at the first 3 books.

Stand and Deliver

Eloise thought being whisked to another dimension by a handsome man
would be a fantasy come true, but the gorgeous nobleman in question
can’t even make her come. As she tries to figure out how to free herself
of him, she begins to notice a masked man following her wherever she
goes.

In this world of lords and ladies, should she be afraid when this
dashing highwayman rides up and demands that she be delivered into his
arms? Her brain tells her to be wary, but her body tells her that the
ultimate fantasy might be within reach after all…

Your Money or Your Life

When Jacob fell moving a portrait in the museum where he worked, he
was worried about damaging it. He never imagined he would fall into it and wake up in another dimension. Though his day does start to improve when a sexy masked man rides to his rescue…

Gerard thought his friends Adam and Eloise would be the enchanted
portrait’s only victims, but when he finds a gorgeous but bewildered
young man wandering in the woods, he realizes how wrong he was. Now he
has to enlist the help of a man he can’t stand to put a stop to the
magic, even though he’d much rather be spending that time in the arms of
the sexy man now sharing his home.

All Mine

Theodore has already been disappointed in love twice, and he isn’t
looking for any more heartache. So when the handsome Nicholas, who
happens to be suffering under a curse placed by Theodore’s mischievous
godmother, informs Theodore that his love is the only cure, Theodore
refuses to believe it. But Nicholas knows from their very first kiss
that Theodore is the man for him. He isn’t going to give up until he
convinces Theodore their love is what they’ve both spent years longing
for.

Monday, June 1, 2015

His Beauty is a reissue of my short "Bringing Out the Beast", which came out in 2012. The reissue includes two scenes cut from the previous version. I'm also working on a sequel, which I had decided against when the original version came out. One of the deleted scenes makes a huge difference for all of the characters, so now that it has been restored, I'm very excited to finish the story of two very different brothers.

***

Sophia believes her godfather Dominic wants her as much as
she wants him but is afraid to express his feelings. Scarred and burned in a
car accident, Dominic remains private and reclusive and only lets his guard
down with Sophia. She wants him to let it down completely and act on the desire
she knows he feels. Sophia plans to tell him exactly how she feels and what she
wants, when his twin brother shows up. She didn’t even know he had a twin, and
the arrival of the handsome and unscarred man causes Dominic to become hostile
and retreat away from her, spoiling her plans of revealing her heart to him.

As the reasons for their animosity unfold, Sophia vows that she will prove to
Dominic once and for all that his looks mean nothing because his heart is what
she truly desires.

Dominic walked into the library
and came up behind Sophia as she slid the book back onto the shelf. “Looking
for something?”

She jumped at the sound of his
voice, but then she smiled when she turned around. “I was looking through these
old travel narratives to get ideas. I’m still not sure where we ought to go.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Most of
those are from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I’m not sure you want
to visit many of those places.”

“Just for ideas. I want to go
someplace different. This trip is going to be special.” She turned back to the
bookshelf and began reading the spines.

“Is it?” he asked in a voice
lower than he’d intended.

She turned and met his gaze, and
then she nodded slowly. “It is. I promise.”

“Why?” He wanted to hear her repeat
how much she wanted him along for the trip, and he even held his breath as she
paused.

“We’ve never taken a trip
together. The last time we traveled together was when we took a plane to come
here ten years ago. I don’t know why I never suggested it before.” She shrugged
and moved closer to him. “I guess I was always content to be here with you.”

Did she mean what he hoped she
meant? Would she be happy anywhere as long as he was with her? “And you still
are?”

“Of course! I love this house.
When I was fourteen, it was like being in a castle. I could imagine I was an
enchanted princess waiting for something magical to happen. Or a gothic heroine
looking for floating candles and hidden doors behind black veils.”

Despite his disappointment that
she was rhapsodizing about the house instead of him, he laughed. “Hmmm. Perhaps
I shouldn’t have given you that Anne Radcliffe novel when you were thirteen.
I’m obviously a bad influence.”

She smiled up at him, but then
she rolled her eyes. “Hardly. My parents never bought books. I don’t know where
I would have been if not for your gifts.” She turned in a circle and looked at
the library, raising her hands to indicate all the books. “When I saw this
room, I knew I would love it here. You know, like in the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast.”

His smile faded in an instant,
and he lowered his eyes. “I’m glad it brings you so much pleasure.” He lifted
his eyes again and tried to recompose his features.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing. I remembered something
I need to do is all. It distracted me.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh holy shit!
Dominic, that’s not what I meant and you know it! I was just talking about the
library and how perfect it is!”

He feigned ignorance. “Not what
you meant? I don’t understand.”

She crossed her arms as she
looked at him. “Don’t give me that. Your face fell when I mentioned Beauty and the Beast. Don’t lie to me,
Dominic.”

He cleared his
throat. “It’s not a bad analogy. You are a beauty, and I did bring you to live
here in my labyrinthine mansion.”

“But you aren’t a
beast. You’re a wonderful man. I said I enjoyed living here, but I would still
love it no matter what our home was like.”

Her use of the
words “our home” brought him both pleasure and pain. He wanted to end this
conversation before he said something he couldn’t take back. If he revealed his
feelings, he wanted the moment to be perfect. “Forget it, Sophia. I know you
didn’t mean anything by the comment. I’m oversensitive. You’ve always told me
that.”

She moved much
closer. Her breasts were only an inch away from his chest, and she had to tilt
her head back to look up into his eyes. “Dominic,” she said as she lifted her
hand to the scarred side of his face.

He had a choice.
He didn’t want to hear any words of pity, not from her. Never from her. He could
silence her by pulling her into his arms and kissing her, or he could get away
from her as fast as possible. “I do have something I must do. I’ll see you
later.” He moved away from her as quickly as he could without bumping into any
furniture.